1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a serial hot debossing stamper printing machine generally for imprinting titles, authors name, logos and other information on a cover or spine of a book, booklet, or the like. More particularly it is directed to a gantry-type assembly with a movable print engine including a rotating character-containing wheel, e.g. a daisy wheel, in association with a transfer foil tape cartridge for force and heat debossment of material from the foil tape to a workpiece, such as a cover for a marketing, sales, engineering, research or business-office type booklet or report.
2. Material Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,911, the precursor of subject invention and assigned to the same assignee thereof, sets forth in the background section of that patent, various prior art devices including various commercialized hot foil printing machines. The '911 patent itself describes a computerized daisy wheel printer where a series character fingers are heated in the immediate vicinity of the character and forced by a cam-operated head against a cartridge foil tape to imprint foil material on a workpiece. This patent also envisioned that various means other than a character wheel may be employed, such as a dot matrix head to impress a character or logo on the workpiece. The patent also contemplated that the printer may be programmed and the print cycle, dwell time and heat levels adjusted for various type fonts and for the surface texture, e.g. smooth paper, vinyl, leather or other embossed or smooth cover stocks, of the workpiece to be printed. The present invention presents a series of distinct improvements over the constructions shown in the '911 patent.
A cursory review of prior patents cited in the '911 patent prosecution, both domestic and foreign, has been made. U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,370 discloses an early portable device including what is now known as a daisy wheel for hot stamping selected indicia on a heat sensitive web, namely a continuous strip of plastic label stock. Two spaced anvils are closed between a character on the end of a flexible finger and on label stock and heat applied. U.K. 2,152,436 A shows a non-impact marking device such as an ink-jet or laser marker in which the workpiece is positioned on a movable platen. U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,665 describes a printing machine including type face slugs where the print table can be adjusted in height. U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,708 shows an automated tape lettering machine which includes a stepper motor-driven character disc positioned at a home position and movable to a print position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,794 describes an electromagnet driven typewriter hammer for actuating flexible laminae radiating from a character bearing disc where the striking hammer has a pin head with a central end notch which contacts a positioning wedge in a rear cavity of the laminae pad typing element. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,074,798 and 4,147,438 show the use of character plug faces of different shapes at the end of the spokes of a print wheel albeit in the typewriter art.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,746 illustrates that daisy wheel typewriters have included the print wheel in a cartridge and microprocessor control over home and print positions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,416,199 and 4,373,436 show in a non-daisy wheel hot stamper, the use of a braking mechanism for a transfer tape supply reel or cassette and a cam and cam-follower to move a marking head toward an anvil. The latter patent also shows a quick-release snap lock connection of the cassette to the main assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,493 illustrates the use of a pair of parallel guides for sliding-in of an etched die into a metal heated block for imprinting text or logos on elongated tapes for production of award ribbons.